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Die Bikes der Flandern-Rundfahrt – Sep Vanmarcke & John Degenkolb

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Bianchi produced this custom Infinito CV for LottoNL-Jumbo's Classics star Sep Vanmarcke for the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. The custom paint job is quite subtle when viewed next to a rack of team bikes, but on closer inspection, the brushed metal finish is pretty eye-catching.

According to the team mechanics, the paintjob is designed to look like Vanmarcke has ridden so fast he’s scorched the paint off. Now, if that head been the case, we’d expect to see nude carbon, but we liked the look all the same. Trouble is, Vanmarcke fell out of contention with 30km remaining at the Tour of Flanders.

The Infinito CV is Bianchi's endurance bike, with the frame's Countervail technology design to cancel road vibrations before they hit the rider. In case Vanmarcke forgets what his Bianchi is capable of, a marketing slogan sits proudly on the toptube to remind him. I’m sure it was great to see after losing the wheels in the Flanders finale.

As you'd expect for a local hero in Belgium, Vanmarcke's bike was in hot demand and we weren’t the only ones interested in taking a look. Belgian TV crews swarm all the favourites' bike at the start in Brugge.

Rather than the aero Propel used to win Milan-San Remo in March, Giant-Alpecin's John Degenkolb rode a Defy Advanced SL for his attack on the Flandrien cobbles, where, for Degenkolb, comfort takes presidence over aerodynamic gains.

Giant insist that they are capable of creating a lighter and more compliant frame using an integrated seat mast - and for the pro teams, at least re-sale value isn’t an issue.

You will see these little wooden emblems on many pro bikes. A good luck charm, talisman, emblem of personal faith. Whatever the reason for each individual rider, it's nice to see ex-pro Andreas Klier’s retirement project, MyKnoaky, lives on.

With pads dropped to the bottom of the slots on the Shimano Dura-Ace brake calipers, it's clear this is no standard Defy fork. Giant-Alpecin have custom forks provided to eek out the maximum clearance. Given these are custom 28mm treads from sponsor Vittoria, its clear there is plenty of room for bigger rubber for the forthcoming Paris-Roubaix.

Like Vanmarcke and many other riders, Degenkolb uses a climbing shifter to provide easy access to gear changes when attacking the cobbles with his hands on the top of the 'bar. But unlike Sep, Degenkolb's shifter is mounted with the buttons oriented facing the rider.

While the harsher pave of Paris-Roubaix will see Etixx-QuickStep riders swapped to the aptly-named Specialized Roubaix, the smoother cobbles of Flanders see the team's protected riders, including Zdenek Stybar, use the Tarmac.

Visibility is key for sponsors, who pay big bucks for their association with teams, and when bars are covered by handlebar tape, then why not add a sticker on top? It's a trick we saw used by all FSA-sponsored teams. They must get through a lot of stickers in a season!

Dura-Ace calipers may be fitted, but the team mechanics have chosen to use Swiss Stop Flask Pro Black Prince pads, rather than the stock Shimano offering. Perhaps they work better with the Specialized Roval wheels the team rides.

Speaking of which, it took a long time, but Specialized's wheel brand, Roval, is now of a standard that teams are happy with. The mid-section wheels on Stybar's bike are the CLX 40 hoops, but has updated graphics.

Etixx-QuickStep used SRAM last year but have switched to a mixed FSA and Shimano drivetrain. There have been many well publicised issues since, with Mark Cavendish dropping his chain at ill-timed moments in Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-San Remo.The Etixx team mechanics told us they had found what caused the issue, but would not explain what it was. Fingers crossed we’ve seen the end of all that.

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